- New Zealand: Idiot pol fantasizes about banning children from using social media
Source: Seattle Times
“New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has unveiled a proposed law banning children younger than 16 from using social media platforms, citing what he said Monday was “harm being done to a generation” of young people. However, the bill hasn’t yet attracted enough support to pass into law because two of the three parties in Luxon’s coalition government will vote against it. Passage would require support from opposition lawmakers, who have yet to decide how they would vote. There also wasn’t enough time for lawmakers to hold a vote on the proposal before Parliament dissolved on Oct. 1 ahead of November’s election, Luxon said. Bills are required to pass three rounds of voting, usually over a period of months, before they become law.” (08/23/26)
- FL: Gang members abduct father of deployed sailor
Source: USA Today
“The immigrant father of a U.S. sailor on board the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which was deployed in the Middle East during the Iran war, was [abducted by violent gang members], the sailor said in a Facebook post. U.S. Border Patrol [abducted] Luis Manuel Aviles Roa, originally from Nicaragua, after conducting a vehicle stop in Key West, Florida, a spokesperson of the Department of Homeland Security, of which Border Patrol is a part, separately said on Sunday.” (08/24/26)
- UK: Regime tells TikTok and other platforms to remove videos glorifying dangerous driving
Source: SFGate
“Britain’s government Monday urged TikTok and other social media companies to take down viral videos ‘celebrating’ dangerous driving, after two police officers and five young men were killed in a crash when a car was driven down the wrong side of the road. The collision took place as concerns grow over social media videos showing people driving dangerously on purpose, posted by the drivers themselves or others inside the vehicles at the time. British media reports suggest that one of the people who died in the Volkswagen on Saturday may have previously posted such a video. U.K. Defense Minister Luke Pollard said the government has told TikTok and similar platforms to ‘step up’ and remove such ‘awful content’.” (08/24/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/britain-tells-tiktok-and-other-platforms-to-22401257.php
- Guinea: Thirty killed in landfill landslide
Source: ABC News
“A mountainous heap of refuse collapsed at the largest landfill in Guinea ‘s capital of Conakry early on Sunday, killing 30 people, according to the central government. Authorities said that heavy rains, which started at around 2 a.m., washed over the refuse at Dar Es Salam — the largest landfill in Conakry — and triggered a landslide that buried nearby shacks. A search and rescue operation was underway to find survivors. Six people were seriously injured and several homes were destroyed. The site, an open-air waste dump which is the largest in the city, had been designated for closure on Sunday, according to Lt. Col. Baldé Mamadou Bailo, the sanitation officer for the military engineering battalion.” (08/23/26)
- Russia: Ukrainian drone attack kills three teenagers, officials say
Source: AOL
“Three teenagers were killed and another eight people, including seven children, were wounded after drone debris hit a private childcare centre in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region overnight, Russian officials said. In a post on Telegram, Russia’s children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova said that three teenagers, aged 13, 15 and 16, had been killed, with six more children hospitalised. Local governor Veniamin Kondratyev said that two adults had also been wounded. … The attack came as Ukraine attacked several logistics centres belonging to Russian online retailer Ozon, including in the town of Enem, close to Krasnodar city.” (08/24/26)
https://www.aol.com/articles/drone-attack-kills-two-children-002943000.html
- Kazakhstan: Newly formed pro-regime party wins parliamentary election
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Kazakhstan’s pro-government Adilet party won more than 71 percent of the vote in Sunday’s parliamentary election, said the electoral commission in a result likely to consolidate the power of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Announcing the results on Monday, the commission said that four other blocs also entered parliament: the pro-business Respublika and Ak Zhol parties, the centre-left Nationwide Social Democratic Party and the Auyl party, which represents rural voters. … Adilet was founded in the Central Asian nation earlier this year and is led by Tokayev’s top aides. Shortly after its inception, it absorbed the previous ruling party, Amanat. All four other parties entering parliament are also seen as broadly supportive of Tokayev’s administration.” (08/24/26)
- US regime imposes 50% tax on American buyers of Canadian goods; Canadian regime to match them “dollar for dollar”
Source: CBS News
“The U.S. imposed 50% tariffs on [American buyers of] $20 billion worth of Canadian products early Saturday after last-ditch negotiations failed to resolve the latest strain in already tense relations between the historic allies. Canada’s leader said it will retaliate [by taxing Canadian buyers of American goods] beginning Sept. 8. In a call with reporters late Friday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Canada had declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms that had been agreed to earlier this week.” (08/23/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-set-to-impose-50-percent-tariffs-on-canada-after-failed-talks/
- Iran: Pezeshkian defends US deal as best option for peace
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
“Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday defended Tehran’s expired Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States as the best option for ending hostilities between the two nations, which Pezeshkian described as being ‘neither war nor peace.’ … ‘There is not a single provision in this agreement that amounts to capitulation,’ Pezeshkian said in remarks published by state-run news agency IRNA. ‘The supreme leader sets the policies, and we will follow that path.’ The MoU, signed by US President Donald Trump in June, laid out a 60-day timeline for ending the US-Israeli-led conflict as well as ensuring that Iran give up its nuclear ambitions. The deadline passed last week with no signs of compromise by either side, and the situation in the Strait of Hormuz — which Iran closed in response to US-Israeli attacks, putting the global economy in a chokehold for the past six months — still unresolved.” (08/23/26)
https://www.dw.com/en/iran-president-defends-deal-with-us-as-best-option-for-peace/a-78477486
- France: Glucksmann Launches Presidential Bid Amid Fractured Left
Source: US News & World Report
“French centre-left politician Raphael Glucksmann launched a bid for the presidency on Sunday, seeking to challenge firebrand hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon for dominance of France’s fractured left ahead of a campaign increasingly shaped by the far right. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen consistently tops first-round voting intentions, and potential challengers from the political centre and left face an uphill battle to defeat her in a runoff, according to opinion polls. … Glucksmann, a pro-European EU lawmaker who led the mainstream left alliance in the 2024 European Parliament election to 14% of the vote, trails Melenchon in opinion polls and a key question is whether he — or other potential centre-left candidates — could unite moderate left-wing forces.” (08/23/26)
- TX: Judge denies Karmelo Anthony’s request for a new trial in stabbing death
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“A Texas judge denied Karmelo Anthony’s request for a new trial on Saturday, dealing a blow to the 19-year-old’s bid to overturn his murder conviction. In June, a Collin county jury found Anthony guilty of fatally stabbing his classmate Austin Metcalf in 2025 at a track meet in Frisco, a suburb 28 miles (45km) north of Dallas. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Anthony’s defense attorneys have sought to have the case re-tried, accusing county prosecutors of violating an off-the-record agreement. In court filings this summer, his legal team said they struck a bargain with the state to narrow the focus of the trial to the day of the track meet, excluding allegations that would raise questions about the moral character of both teenagers. … Defense attorneys said the state broke the deal at the 11th hour, leading Anthony to forgo taking the stand, as was originally planned.” (08/22/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/22/karmelo-anthony-texas-trial
- UK: Prince Harry and others ordered to pay millions over failed lawsuit
Source: Reuters
“Britain’s Prince Harry, singer Elton John and other high-profile claimants face paying millions of dollars out of their own pockets to cover the legal costs of the Daily Mail’s publisher after a judge ruled their failed privacy lawsuits were conducted in an unreasonable way. Judge Matthew Nicklin’s judgment on costs, which was published on Friday, ordered an interim payment from the claimants of £9.54 million, due by August 28, towards the legal costs of Associated Newspapers. … Last month, Nicklin comprehensively rejected the case brought by King Charles’ younger son, John and five other figures, rejecting allegations that the Mail titles had engaged in widespread unlawful activities, such as phone hacking.” (08/21/26)
- US regime orders steep Colorado River water cuts for Arizona, California and Nevada
Source: ABC News
“With the two largest reservoirs in the nation struggling with record-low water levels and the Colorado River, which feeds them, facing years of drought amplified by climate change, the federal government had hoped that the seven states that draw water from the river could reach an agreement on how to divvy up the shrinking supply. After they failed to do so, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) stepped in. On Friday, the agency ordered steep cuts to the amount of Colorado River water that will be delivered to California, Nevada and Arizona. … The agency didn’t mandate reductions to the Upper Basin states, including Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico, as it doesn’t have the same legal authority over the upper part of the Colorado River. But it is asking those states to agree to operate the Flaming Gorge, Navajo and Aspinall reservoirs in order to send water down and protect Glen Canyon Dam.” (08/21/26)
https://abcnews.com/US/federal-government-orders-steep-colorado-river-water-cuts/story?id=135856655
- Chinese humanoid robot breaks 100 meter sprint record set by Usain Bolt
Source: United Press International
“A Chinese humanoid robot on Saturday ran a 100-meter sprint in 9.32 seconds, surpassing the world record set by Jamaican legend Usain Bolt. The robot, named Lightning and produced by robotics company Honor, reached a peak speed of 14.5 meters per second during a test run. Lightning is one of 2,000 robots participating in the second World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing. The robot’s sprint on Saturday was .26 seconds faster than Bolt’s world record of 9.58 seconds, set 17 years ago at Berlin’s World Athletics Championships. Another robot cleared 2.88 meters at the standing high jump, higher than the 2.45-meter world record set by Cuban athlete Javier Sotomayor in 1993.” (08/22/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2026/08/22/robot-record-bolt/1151787452252/
- Dozens of attacks in southern Thailand wound three people
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Dozens of coordinated arson and incendiary attacks across Thailand’s south left at least three people wounded and government property burned, the military has said. Multiple local government offices and several vehicles were damaged or destroyed in the 51 attacks late on Saturday, according to the military’s Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC). … Since 2004, a low-level conflict has simmered in the southernmost provinces of Buddhist-majority Thailand, killing more than 7,000 people, as rebels in the Muslim-majority region battle for greater autonomy. No group has claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attacks.” (08/23/26)
- Myanmar: Fourteen killed in strike on monastery
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Fourteen people were killed in military air strikes at a monastery in Myanmar early on Friday, opposition fighters and a local rescue worker have said. All of those killed were elderly and a number of monks were also injured, the rescue worker told BBC Burmese, adding that the site was struck twice. … Civilians had reportedly gathered at the site for a meditation retreat to mark Buddhist Lent. Myanmar’s military has not commented.” (08/22/26)
- Trump Urges Court to Reject BBC’s Discovery Subpoenas in Frivolous Defamation Case
Source: US News & World Report
“President Donald Trump has urged a federal judge to reject the BBC’s request for the court’s help in securing testimony and documents from three family members in response to his $10 billion [frivolous] defamation lawsuit against the British broadcaster. The BBC is trying to gain ‘politically-driven leverage’ over Trump by serving subpoenas on daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner and son Donald Trump Jr., personal lawyers for the Republican president argued in a court filing Friday. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Kuntz in Miami did not immediately rule on the dispute.” (08/22/26)
- CA: Newsom signs controversial “Stop Nick Shirley Act” into law
Source: New York Post
“Gov. Gavin Newsom signed California’s controversial ‘Stop Nick Shirley Act’ into law on Saturday, just days after a radical [sic] left-wing [sic] operative [sic] crashed the journalist’s Capitol interview and launched a crude personal attack on him. Assembly Bill 2624 expands California’s Safe at Home program to employees of nonprofits that serve people navigating the immigration system. Critics have blasted the measure as a way to intimidate people ‘trying to shine light on bad behavior.’ The law takes effect Oct. 1, 2027. … Shirley, an independent journalist and YouTuber, has made videos following immigrant workers and accusing them of fraud. … On Wednesday, Shirley was conducting a sidewalk interview outside the California State Capitol in Sacramento when Terry Schanz, chief of staff to Democratic Assemblywoman Tina McKinnor, allegedly barged into the encounter. … He held up a printed flyer and asked: ‘Did you guys hear that Nick Shirley has a small penis allegedly?'” (08/22/26)
- Somali pirates hijack oil tanker off Yemen in latest attack
Source: ABC News
“Somali pirates hijacked an oil products tanker off Yemen, a Somali maritime security official said, the latest in a resurgence of piracy that has seen six commercial vessels seized since April across the Gulf of Aden and western Indian Ocean. Six armed pirates hijacked the Eritrean-flagged M.T. Sibu 1 on Thursday about 136 nautical miles (252 kilometers) east of al-Mukalla, Yemen, and took it toward Somalia’s Puntland coast, the official, who has knowledge of the incident, told The Associated Press on Friday. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not allowed to discuss the matter publicly. The Sibu 1, managed by the UAE-based Qatrat Alnada Almasi Ship Management, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department last year for allegedly belonging to an Iranian ‘shadow fleet’ used to transport petroleum products seeking to evade U.S. sanctions.” (08/22/26)
- DR Congo: Regime, M23 rebels agree roadmap for peace talks
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“The Democratic Republic of Congo government and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group have agreed a roadmap for peace talks. In a joint statement after five days of talks in Switzerland, they said they had pledged to ‘pursue negotiations towards comprehensive peace and conflict resolution’ and set up a mechanism to monitor the ceasefire. The roadmap sets out a timeline for talks under a US-brokered peace framework which they signed in 2025 – only for fighting to then continue in eastern DR Congo, which has been engulfed in conflict for decades. But disagreements remain over issues including sanctions against M23, the release of detainees and the timing of political reforms.” (08/23/26)
- Appeals court overturns verdict in undercover sting of Democratic operatives
Source: Politico
“A federal appeals court handed conservative activist James O’Keefe a significant legal victory Friday, tossing out a $130,000 judgment a Democratic consultant won against him over an undercover video sting tied to the 2016 presidential election. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said that award, which followed a 2022 jury trial, violated the First Amendment by muddling together the consequences of legal activity by O’Keefe and his group, Project Veritas, with unlawful aspects of its infiltration of the consulting firm, Democracy Partners. The video, which Project Veritas released weeks before the 2016 general election, contended that Democracy Partners and its founder, Robert Creamer, were seeking to foment violence at Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s rallies. … Creamer and his firm sued Project Veritas and O’Keefe, claiming illegal wiretapping, trespass, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud.” (08/21/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/21/james-okeefe-appeal-democratic-operative-sting-01046426
- Gorsuch’s Con-jority Opinion in Slaughter
Source: Law & Liberty
by Andy Smarick“Gorsuch’s concurrence in Trump v. Slaughter may hold the key to the future of separation of powers jurisprudence.” (08/24/26)
https://lawliberty.org/gorsuchs-con-jority-opinion-in-slaughter/
- Trump Has Good Reason to Reduce US–South Korea Defense Ties
Source: The American Conservative
by Liam Childers“The Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit this week, his first to South Korea in five years, comes as Lee seeks China’s help to reopen dialogue with Pyongyang. Beijing reaffirmed its pledge to play a ‘constructive role’ in promoting peace on the peninsula. None of this means Seoul is becoming a Chinese ally. Rather, South Korea, which endured considerable Chinese retaliation for accepting THAAD in the first place, has been reminded that Washington’s priorities often shift without warning. South Korea is simply demonstrating that it is an independent nation with a strong interest in avoiding an unduly antagonistic relationship with its powerful neighbor.” (08/24/26)
- Grab the popcorn for the soap-opera civil wars of both parties in Florida
Source: New York Post
by Josh Hammer“Florida, you might have heard, is no longer purple: Since Ron DeSantis became governor, Republicans have gained nearly 2 million registered voters over Democrats in the Sunshine State. It is an astonishing change in partisanship for the state that famously decided the 2000 presidential election by 537 votes. The outcome of the statewide races in Florida this November, such as those for governor and US senator, are therefore not in much doubt. Democrats might dream about making Florida competitive again, but they might as well believe in the tooth fairy. But if Florida isn’t much in play between the two parties, it’s definitely in play within them. As last week’s primaries indicate, the Sunshine State is the new ground zero for the roiling internal civil wars that have dominated both parties for years. On the Democratic side, the results were a mixed bag.” (08/23/26)
- Limited Government’s Bait and Switch
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman“In a fundamental respect, libertarian minarchism (minimal, or limited, government) and market anarchism (or anarcho-capitalism) have something important in common: neither can guarantee individual rights. But there’s a big difference: unlike market anarchism, minarchism appears to offer a guarantee, which allegedly makes it preferable to market anarchism. Actually, it’s a false guarantee, a bait-and-switch. So it’s not preferable to market anarchism, at least on those grounds. However, what market anarchism can do is show how everyday incentives will tend to protect liberty (and already do now). Minarchism can’t credibly say the same thing because constitutionally limited representative democracy is riddled with well-known perverse political incentives. That makes market anarchism the better bet.” (08/23/26)
https://sheldonrichman.substack.com/p/limited-governments-bait-and-switch
- Soon You Too Will Be A Commie
Source: The Reframe
by AR Moxon“New York Congressperson Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, who is pretty clearly running for president in 2028, made a disappointing statement recently. She was asked about the idea of defunding and/or abolishing the police, and she responded that ‘woke 1.0 was crazy.’ I found that disappointing. I know that by saying I find it disappointing I am encouraging everyone to run their pre-established pundit scripts about elections and voting and political strategy and slogans and AOC as a person and a politician …. I want to focus on why I find Cortez’s statement disappointing—which is that it gave away the frame to bullies, and it’s dispiriting when our politicians, who are meant to represent us, do that. AOC is somebody who has risen to prominence by frequently declining to give away the frame to bullies, so that makes it all the more dispiriting whenever she does so.” (08/24/26)
- Have Flock Cameras Awakened a Sleeping Luddite Giant?
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid“People like me used to be ‘crazy’ but now we’re just inconvenient. 1984 is now and it gets worse every day while you scroll through Pornhub on your iPhone and try not to think about it. We can’t pretend like we don’t know anymore. Not after Edward Snowden. Not after Chelsea Manning. Not after Julian Assange and Virginia Giuffre and Wikileaks and the Epstein Files. We quite simply know too goddamn much to go back now. We know ‘they’ know and they know we know. … This was precisely the kind of climate that ignited the Luddite Rebellion of early 19th century England.” (08/24/26)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2026/08/have-flock-cameras-awakened-sleeping.html
- Rethinking Polio
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Forrest Maready“The prevailing understanding of poliovirus pathogenesis posits that the virus, following intestinal infection, gains access to the central nervous system (CNS) through viremia and subsequent crossing of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). However, this model fails to adequately explain several key epidemiological and clinical features of the historical polio epidemic, including the localized nature of paralysis, the disproportionate involvement of the lower limbs, the increased susceptibility of young children, and the striking predilection for anterior (motor) neuronal damage while simultaneously sparing posterior (sensory) spinal cord structures.” (08/23/26)
- Why Scott Bessent Can’t Fix the Bond Market
Source: The American Prospect
by Ryan Cooper“During the past several months, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made a big bet that interest rates were coming down. A whole lot of old 30- and 10-year Treasury bonds with old, low interest rates are coming due over the next year or so, and if they were to be simply rolled over into new same-dated bonds, high borrowing costs would be locked in for a long time. So Bessent rolled them over into short-term bonds instead. The hope was that interest rates would come down, and he wouldn’t have to lock in very high rates. Instead, the opposite happened, and 30- and 10-year rates are at their highest levels in 20 years. Interest costs on the national debt now easily outstrip spending on the military, and are projected to grow, a lot.” (08/24/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/08/24/scott-bessent-cant-fix-bond-market-trump-treasury-interest-rates/
- Will AI Replace Human Labour? Revisiting a Question I First Asked in 2015
Source: Freedom and Flourishing
by Winton Bates“In 2015, I wrote an essay entitled, ‘Will robots replace human labour and reduce real wage levels?’ That essay still seems to attract quite a lot of attention even though some of the thoughts in it are now out of date. I did not anticipate the impact of Large Language Models (LLMs). One of the things I like about my previous essay is the use of down-to-earth examples to illustrate processes. So, I will try to continue in that vein.” (08/23/26)
https://www.freedomandflourishing.com/2026/08/will-ai-replace-human-labour-revisiting.html
- The internet always routes around the censors
Source: Washington Post
by Megan McArdle“It is never correct to chastise the media for printing things that are true and important. [Jason] Arday’s academic misconduct is well-documented at this point. To say that they are unimportant is to say that it doesn’t matter whether one of the finest universities in the world can distinguish truth from fiction, or scholarship from a cut-and-paste job. If that’s what Arday’s academic defenders believe, then we should be paying more attention to what’s going on at Cambridge, not less. But they’re mistaken even if you think that a free press doesn’t mean the freedom to pile on. In this year of our Lord 2026, the kind of censorship they want is not just a terrible idea. It is an impossible dream.” (08/23/26)
- Stars and Stripes, Perhaps Not Forever
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp“Stars and Stripes is largely funded by, and its operations and distribution are almost completely enabled by, the US government. ‘Editorial independence’ may sound like a wonderful idea, but there’s always been a leash. We’re just watching the leash get shorter. Thankfully, the collar at the end of that leash only strangles Stars and Stripes. These days, even troops aboard ships at sea and at remote firebases in hostile territory have far greater contact with the outside world, most of the time, than even civilians at home enjoyed 50, let alone 150, years ago. … The military news coverage, and consumption, of the future will look a lot more like WikiLeaks than like Stars and Stripes.” (08/22/26)
- Trump plans to lower beef prices by … using communism?
Source: USA Today
by Rex Huppke“I’ve heard a lot lately about how socialism and communism are bad, at least when it’s a Democrat proposing ways to ease American consumers’ economic pain. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan for five municipal grocery stores where a ‘core basket of everyday groceries will be 30 percent cheaper’ was pilloried by Republicans. … OK. But now Trump is saying his new bought-from-wherever imported beef will be sold 25% below the market price. That sounds a lot like the government controlling food prices. The final piece of the hypocrisy turducken is that Trump’s mystery-meat plan wholly undercuts his incessant claims that tariffs don’t affect consumers. … in one fell swoop, President Cheeseburger angered the cattle ranchers who’ve long been loyal to him …. He demonstrated the inanity of the GOP’s fearmongering about communism and socialism. And he confirmed what everyone already knew about his reckless tariffs and the financial burden they’ve imposed on consumers.” (08/23/26)
- America Is Building a Surveillance State Like China’s
Source: Reason
by Steven Greenhut“In the communist Chinese surveillance state, the authorities use facial recognition software, tracking systems and biometric databases that create holographic profiles of every person. Called ‘Bright Eyes,’ this system is straight out of science fiction. It’s the perfect police-state model for controlling the populace along the lines of that ‘1984’ quotation, given it’s impossible to act and speak freely if you’re being watched by people who have the authority to put you in prison. America isn’t there yet, but ALPR technology is leading the long march to this dystopia.” (08/21/26)
https://reason.com/2026/08/21/america-is-building-a-surveillance-state-like-chinas/
- America Can’t Revive Manufacturing by Shunning Robots
Source: The Daily Economy
by Iain Murray“America won’t outcompete China by restricting imports on robots. It will win by becoming the best place in the world to build and deploy them.” (08/21/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/america-cant-revive-manufacturing-by-shunning-robots/
- Azerbaijan Sues CNN Over Story on Cooperation with Israel in War on Iran
Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley“There is a novel (and highly dubious) lawsuit filed in Delaware by the nation of Azerbaijan against CNN for a story claiming that it was cooperating with Israel in attacks on Iran. Republic of Azerbaijan v. CNN, Inc. borders on the legally frivolous, but it is likely politically advantageous to show Iran that it contests the allegations. … The basis for the lawsuit is what the country calls ‘CNN’s reckless reporting’ on June 5, 2026 in a post titled ‘Exclusive: Israel sent troops to Azerbaijan during Iran war, sources say’. The article claiming that Azerbaijan allowed Israel to use its territory to launch attacks against Iran no doubt raised the ire of the Islamic Republic. Indeed, the Complaint lays out how Iran threatened any countries assisting Iran and suggested that the story was putting them at risk of an Iranian attack.” (08/22/26)
- Local Patriotism
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman“The sign, from an Eat ‘n Park that we sometimes eat at on our Pennsic trip, expresses a common sentiment, that it is virtuous to buy from someone who lives close to you instead of from someone farther away, support the economy of your town instead of that of some other town, that it is ‘just the right thing to do.’ Why?” (08/21/26)
- Why Korea Matters
Source: The Next Move
by Garry Kasparov“South Korea, like many other US allies, provides a friendly presence along strategic transit corridors. The American public’s sudden introduction to the Strait of Hormuz is a stark reminder that these are not just geographic trivia questions but strategic choke points that can make or break global trade—and deliver a real financial blow to ordinary people thousands of miles away. Donald Trump likes to cast allies as freeloaders and ungrateful charity cases (he is vindictive that the South Koreans will not get involved in his poorly conceived war in Iran). This is an awfully flat, transactional view of the world, and in almost every instance it is also inaccurate. US prosperity would be directly impacted if South Korea were absorbed by the Stalinist north.” (08/21/26)
- Israelis who rely on Judaism to protect West Bank Palestinians
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff“In much of the Middle East, politics and security are closely intertwined with religion and ethnicity. In Israel, a small but growing minority of citizens seek to improve their country’s security by upholding both the principles of democracy and Jewish directives governing the treatment of fellow humans. In the aftermath of the 2023 Hamas attack that killed some 1,200 Israelis, this effort is not easy. Since the Oct. 7 attack, Israel has been focused on wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. Yet at the same time, violence by mainly Orthodox Jewish settlers against Palestinian residents of the occupied West Bank has spiked. Some 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in encounters with settlers or with Israeli security forces since 2023. The United Nations reported an average of six such attacks a day during the first half of 2026.” (08/21/26)
- Another tragedy of the absence of capitalism
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall“We hear enough of how appalling capitalism is in this modern world. We should, perhaps, pay more attention to the disasters that befall those in the absence of capitalism: ‘More than 100 people have died after an artisanal goldmine at a small village in western Central African Republic (CAR) caved in’ …. ‘Artisanal’ in mining terms means men with shovels and little else but a shovel and their labour. … this is non-capitalist mining. The safer way to mine is to perhaps run with an open pit. Or, if tunnelling, to shore up said tunnels. But both of these options require much more money to be spent before there is any revenue from output. They require capital that is. ” (08/21/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/another-tragedy-of-the-absence-of-capitalism
- MAGA and the DSA, Part Two: Differences Between These Populist Antagonists
Source: American Greatness
by Thaddeus G McCotter“America’s dueling populist movements, the Right’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) and the Left’s Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), both believe a powerful, unaccountable entity or entities are unfairly exploiting them and obstructing their personal pursuit of happiness, often colluding among themselves to do so. Exacerbating the situation, at least one of these powerful organizations, the government, is charged with protecting the individual from this very exploitation. Consequently, it is the collusion between the ‘Bigs’ into what G. K. Chesterton and Hillaire Belloc deemed ‘business government’ that the respective populist movements seek to remedy. Yet, here is where MAGA and the DSA radically differ in their prescriptions.” (08/22/26)
- The Forgotten World of Thornton W. Burgess
Source: Law & Liberty
by Danton Kostandarithes“The motifs of pre-teen children’s stories reflect much about a society: what it values and what it aspires to become. Recent winners of the coveted Newberry and Caldecott prizes are illustrative. Recurrent themes include personal identity, mystical powers, the importance of discovering one’s heritage, and the challenge of navigating cultural boundaries. A common thread is non-judgmentalism, since sharp distinctions between right and wrong would be too harsh in our therapeutic world. Of course, we should never want a child to feel bad about him or herself needlessly, or to endure insecurity about who they are. However, the absence of strict ethical lessons and stern advice in modern children’s stories mirrors and reinforces the moral relativity so prevalent in our current culture.” (08/21/26)
https://lawliberty.org/the-forgotten-world-of-thornton-w-burgess/
- Our Entire Civilization Is Run By Oligarchs And Empire Managers
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“The Wall Street Journal has a new article out titled ‘The Hidden Debt That Apple Owes to the CIA’, subtitled ‘Without CIA funding that helped keep NeXT afloat in the ’80s, Steve Jobs might not have made a triumphant return to Apple — and the iPhone might not have its foundational operating code.’ All the top tech giants have deep ties to the CIA. Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon. Facebook and Instagram are overseen by ‘former’ CIA operatives. Our whole civilization is run by an alliance of oligarchs and empire managers. … In a recent interview with Israel Hayom, Israeli ‘Minister of Diaspora Affairs’ Amichai Chikli said that Zionists need to ‘cooperate with the conservative mainstream, American and European, against radical Islam.’ Chikli argued that the western right doesn’t care about antisemitism, so it doesn’t make sense to place emphasis there, but ‘radical Islam interests them very much’.” (08/22/26)
- The US Debt Hit 40 Trillion Dollars. Washington Chooses Inflation Over Solvency.
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey“Here we are! We finally made it to $40 trillion in debt! Should we celebrate or hibernate? Congratulations, we are a debtor nation. I can tell you that those responsible for accumulating the nation’s massive debt care little; whether you are talking about the Republicans or the Democrats, they both agree on spending far more money than we have coming in. For all the talk of fiscal restraint, the spending continues, and we’re paying over $1 trillion per year just to pay the interest on the debt, not paying down the debt. This crowds out our ability to pay for necessary obligations, including Social Security, Medicare, and our nation’s defense.” (08/21/26)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/the-us-debt-hit-40-trillion-dollars
- The Cost of Conspiracy
Source: EconLog
by Jon Murphy“People conspire all the time. Firms collude. Politicians bargain behind closed doors. Militaries deceive their enemies. But other conspiracies are detected, or they do not last long. Why do some remain secret while others are revealed? A simple game theory model can help illustrate that the probability of a conspiracy being revealed depends on the number of independent choosing individuals whose cooperation is necessary, and the incentives those individuals face. The basic intuition of what makes it hard to keep a conspiracy a secret is not new. But there are interesting implications for institutional design.” (08/21/26)
- Another Trump-Kim Carnival?
Source: Antiwar.com
by Jeffrey Robertson“A Trump-Kim summit would be a spectacle like no other. A carnival extravaganza with the Korean Peninsula holding center stage, and every handshake, expression, seating arrangement, and stray remark dissected by troupes of North Korea pundits across the world’s news networks. But like any great traveling carnival, a few days later ticket holders will be left with an uncomfortable queasiness and a sense that they’ve somehow been cheated. Spectacle, not strategy.” (08/21/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/jeffrey_robertson/2026/08/20/another-trump-kim-carnival
- Not Racist to Notice Things, Racist to Pretend You Don’t
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter“As a charge, ‘racism’ is completely irrelevant in 2026. ‘Wolf’ has been cried so many times that even if it were a wolf crying it, no one would believe it or care. I should say ‘almost no one’. Democrats would still try to make something out of it, and Al Sharpton and Ben Crump would come to perform a little bullshit two-step for the cameras and the checks. But otherwise, no one would care because, well, it is not racist to notice things. Don’t get me wrong, racism still exists, but the most glaring way in which it exists is in the hearts and minds of leftists. It is no longer racist to judge someone by the color of their skin and treat them differently because of it; that’s half the platform of the Democrats (both the regular old kind and the Socialists of America type).” (08/22/26)
- If everything’s a conspiracy, nothing’s a conspiracy
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Adam Goldstein“How a Reconstruction-era law built to crush the Klan, and tested against the Mafia, ended up silencing people for journalism and memes.” (08/21/26)
https://www.fire.org/news/if-everythings-conspiracy-nothings-conspiracy
- The Telephone and the Brief Episode of “Imperfect” Competition (1894–1906)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Joshua Mawhorter“Many mistakenly assume that, on a free market, high barriers to entry and start-up costs so privilege the monopolistic incumbents that it would be virtually impossible for other firms to compete. In such an environment, competition is said to either be improbable or impossible, or—where competition could presumably exist—it is said to be inconvenient or duplicative. Hopefully the reader can see the question-begging in such claims and how the conclusion is presupposed against competition—there is either said to be no competition or there is said to be too much competition. Thus, the public goods argument for ‘public utilities’ and the myth of ‘natural monopoly’ combine to argue that the state ought to provide certain services to prevent market failure and monopoly.” (08/21/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/telephone-and-brief-episode-imperfect-competition-1894-1906
- What Would a Brutally Honest Man Look Like?
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Filipe Rafaeli“iogenes was one of the most iconic philosophers of ancient Greece. He roamed the streets of Athens in broad daylight carrying a lit lantern. When asked why he was performing such an unusual scene, Diogenes would reply that he was looking for an honest man. He never found one. More than two thousand years later, Diogenes’ questioning remains just as valid and relevant as much of the teachings of the ancient Greek philosophers.” (08/21/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/what-would-a-brutally-honest-man-look-like/
- Defeating the Donroe Doctrine: Latin America Can Resist Trump’s Gunboat Racketeering
Source: Common Dreams
by Nancy Okail & Michael Paarlberg“‘American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again’, declared the State Department in a new video tying, somewhat improbably, the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 to killing people on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific 200 years later. Blowing up speedboats supposedly to stop fentanyl smuggling (which notably does not come to the US on speedboats) appears senseless. As a counter-narcotics strategy, it is ineffective, an assessment echoed by the DEA. The performative violence overshadows its role in building a new US policy towards the hemisphere: acts of murder as a tool to create permanent structures of US dominance and extraction.” (08/22/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/what-is-trump-s-donroe-doctrine
- New Mexico – “what’s free speech worth?”
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton“The most recent stupidity generated in Santa Fe is an attack on various satirical publications. Most notably, the Babylon Bee. As reported by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), New Mexico has joined two other States in requiring warnings on all AI-generated political content, and on prohibiting such content within a certain window of time before elections. (We are unsure and were not able to confirm which two States are similar, but suspect it is California and Hawai’i. Although other source suggest it is Texas and Colorado.) But what we did discover is that the problem is far more than just three States.” (08/21/26)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/08/21/new-mexico-whats-free-speech-worth/
- Natalie Harp and the American Don (Juan)
Source: Liberal Currents
by Alan Elrod“Harp’s letters are intimate, obsessive, tinged with romance and a slavish devotion to the man currently laying waste to the American republic. They are the sign of someone who, if not in love, is undeniably taken with Trump in a way that goes beyond even the intensities of schoolgirl adoration. As one commenter put it, her writing is ‘not a love letter, it’s a cult devotional.’ The love question, at least in its physical dimension, strikes me as a superficial concern anyway. I agree with commentators like Jonathan V. Last that this is almost certainly not a sexual relationship. I have argued previously that the psychosexual unmooring of the American right is a central part of our descent into authoritarianism. The obsession with Trump himself has often veered into a set of lurid, fantastical projections.” (08/22/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/natalie-harp-and-the-american-don-juan/
- Abolish the Department of Education? Yes, but Don’t Stop There
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by George Leef“When Jimmy Carter ran for president in 1976, he received support from the teachers’ unions, and to pay them back, he pushed for the Department of Education as a means to help the unions solidify their control and squeeze out more money than they could get just from states and localities. There was no public demand for federal meddling in education — this was pure, special-interest politics. … When Alexis de Tocqueville visited the United States in 1830, he noted in his famous book Democracy in America that the level of literacy here was amazingly high, without any government involvement. How, then, did what we call ‘public education’ get started?” (08/21/26)
- Trump is bad for America. But he might be good for the world.
Source: Washington Post
by Zachary Karabell“It has not been a banner summer for the United States. The country is mired in a war with Iran with no graceful exit opportunities; a new round of tariffs threatens to further disrupt fragile global trade relations; and the domestic economy faces inflation combined with paltry growth. President Donald Trump has not been a positive force for the U.S. this year, and many of his administration’s policies don’t bode well for the future. But by weakening America, Trump may strengthen the rest of the world.” (08/21/26)
- The $140 Billion Public-College Myth
Source: Cato Institute
by Andrew Gillen“The public’s confidence in higher education is falling rapidly. The share of the public that has confidence in higher education declined from 57% in 2015 to 38% in 2026. As colleges and their advocates try to win back the public’s confidence, one of their strongest arguments is that college is worth it for both students and for the country broadly. While it is true that a college education generally pays off for the typical student, there are a few problems with this view. The biggest, and most obvious, problem to note is that there are many predictable cases in which college is not worth it from a financial perspective.” (08/21/26)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/140-billion-public-college-myth
- Charles Goyette on The Kyle Anzalone Show
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Was Donald Trump Mousetrapped By Netanyahu?” (08/24/26)
- Bulwark Takes, 08/23/26
Source: The Bulwark
“Trump Blows Up His Own Trade Deal With Canada.” (08/23/26)
- Free Talk Live, 08/23/26
Source: Free Talk Live
“Women now have more tattoos than men :: Bonnie and Mark removing tattoos :: Sarah has a younger sister who is NOT a communist :: Bonnie’s experience contacting her dead grandpa :: Can a ghost haunt a car?” (08/23/26)
- Unattended Baggage, episode 353
Source: Unattended Baggage
“We’ve got nothing in common.” (08/22/26)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-353-weve-got-nothing-in-common
- Pink Flame of Liberty, 08/22/26
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“Let’s watch the LNC Meeting with PRESHOW review of Moellman Opinion.” (08/22/26)
- Rising, 08/21/26
Source: The Hill
“Jill Biden responds to theory Joe Biden was drugged before debate.” (08/21/26)
- Nolan Denaro on The Kyle Anzalone Show
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Trump Must Make a Bad Deal to End the War, Will His Ego Get in the Way?” (08/21/26)
- Freakonomics Radio, episode 542
Source: Freakonomics
“Is a Museum Just a Trophy Case?” (08/21/26)
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/is-a-museum-just-a-trophy-case-update/
- The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 08/21/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump’s Rage Darkens as MTG Drops Midterm Bombshell: GOP Is Toast.” (08/21/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/214581/trump-rage-darkens-mtg-drops-midterm-bombshell-gop-toast
- The Tom Woods Show, episode 2789
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“Why the Campaign Against JD Vance?” (08/21/26)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2789-why-the-campaign-against-jd-vance/
- Sal and Mark, episode 17
Source: Free Talk Live
“Patri Friedman joins Sal and Mark this week for a wide ranging conversation about the Free Cities movement, charter cities, and why special autonomous zones may be the most practical path to freedom in the modern world.” (08/21/26)
- Reasonably Optimistic, 08/21/26
Source: Washington Post
“Host Megan McArdle talks with UCLA sociologist Gabriel Rossman about scandal, status and public shaming.” (08/21/26)
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 08/21/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“‘Golden Age’ Milestone — Debt Hits $40 Trillion.” (08/21/26)
- The Political Orphanage, 08/20/26
Source: The Political Orphanage
“Chinese Lobbyists Hate California Pig Laws.” (08/20/26)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/chinese-lobbyists-hate-california-pig-laws
- Serious Trouble, 08/20/26
Source: Serious Trouble
“Disney sues the FCC to vindicate its First Amendment rights; Luigi Mangione pleads guilty, and wants to avoid being prosecuted twice; AI gets an expert witness in trouble.” (08/20/26)
https://www.serioustrouble.show/p/the-happiest-place-on-earth-a-courtroom
- Underthrow Podcast, 08/20/26
Source: Underthrow
“Argentina Tried Socialism. Then Came the Chainsaw.” (08/20/26)
- Ron Paul on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Ron Paul on the Iran War, the National Debt and Flock Cameras.” (08/20/26)
- Sal and Mark, episode 16
Source: Free Talk Live
“Jason Bassler from the Free Thought Project joins to talk about the growing resistance movement against Flock cameras, the abuse of this surveillance technology by law enforcement including federal agencies like ICE, ATF and the FBI, and what ordinary people can actually do to push back. Scott Horton then joins to share his perspective on US and Israeli foreign policy toward Iran, how Netanyahu played checkers with Trump, and where the current standoff is likely headed. Scott also touches on the Russia Ukraine war and the very real danger of nuclear miscalculation between the US and Russia.” (08/20/26)
- The Blessings of Liberty with Jeffrey Rosen, 08/20/26
Source: The Blessings of Liberty with Jeffrey Rosen
“Why Did the Founders Fear Democracy?” (08/20/26)
https://rosenjeffrey.substack.com/p/why-did-the-founders-fear-democracy?
- Libertarian Angle, 08/20/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“Libertarian Angle: The Ten Commandments in the Public Schools?” (08/20/26)